Wild North America 1846

Chapter 391 Give a sweet date with a slap

"Enemy detected on the port side forward, distance 30 chains, whole ship first level combat alert, prepare for battle."

"The course is 15 degrees south-southwest, the speed is 12 knots, the order is to accelerate to 15 knots, the battle flag is raised, and the fleet is ready for battle."

"Each artillery position reports its preparation status."

"Three warning shots, ready to... launch!"

Entering the boundless Pacific Ocean, the "Forest" fleet of ships started galloping at a high speed. The tall bows broke through the blue sea, galloping between the peaks and troughs of the waves, and began to nervously practice various tactics.

to be honest

In the vast Pacific Ocean, the ironclad cruiser "Tempest" has no rivals at all. The only powerful British Royal Navy is still an ally.

No matter whether this ally is a bit of a coward, overbearing, arrogant, has a bad temper, and has a sharp mouth that makes people want to tear it apart. But after all, they are allies, and they are allies who occupy a dominant position in the relationship between the two parties.

Richard sat firmly in the only command position in the command tower, not interfering with the fleet command, but carefully experiencing the full speed of this armored battleship that represented the world's most advanced technology in the 1860s. It felt really different.

Nothing else to say

Judging from the riding experience alone, this armored cruiser "Tempest" sails very steadily in the ups and downs of the waves, giving people a sense of solidity.

Because the hull is longer and wider, with large displacement and deeper draft, this ship will not feel like it is being thrown up by the waves when sitting on it, nor will it sway left and right like a small ship, with a height of 3 to 4 meters on the sea surface.

The waves don't cause any bumps at all, and they can basically be crushed by the waves steadily.

Due to the high structural strength of the warship itself, the compact layout and many sealed cabins, when sailing on the sea, there is no tremor and cavity feeling like that of a large cruise ship bumping among the waves. From the perspective of the riding experience and actual feelings, it gives people a speechless feeling.

Speaking confidence.

When sailing in the deep ocean in the future, officers and soldiers will be confident and will not be shrouded in deep-sea phobia all the time.

The territory of the Tang Empire was extremely vast, so the Royal Navy required ships to be equipped with long range in the first place, firepower in the second place, and speed only in the third place, which was just enough.

The main battleships of the Royal Navy undertake the task of global hegemony and often operate in the rough Atlantic and warm Mediterranean. In addition, the British naval bases around the world do not have high requirements for voyages.

Among the three elements of a ship;

In the design of the main ship of the British Royal Navy, firepower ranks first, speed ranks second, and range ranks third.

It is precisely because of the high requirements for speed that the British Royal Navy adopted the technical route of sail power, steam engine and side paddle wheel.

As a result, the speed cannot be increased, and the cost is expensive and difficult to use.

The deck layout of the British cutting-edge ships is extremely complicated, with numerous equipment and small space, which interferes with each other during operation, causing British sailors to complain endlessly.

The actual situation of each country is different, and the emphasis on the demand for battleships is also different. There is no right or wrong. Only your own feet can tell whether it is comfortable or not.

The "Forest" ship formation practiced some tactics on the sea. The front and rear main guns and secondary guns successively carried out a series of practical exercises such as artillery training, combat coordination, search and seizure, etc., showing a very high level of ship operation.

In this regard, His Majesty the Emperor gave a high evaluation.

After the exercise of the entire fleet formation, it returned to the Oak Bay port at dusk, ending a full day of high-intensity and exciting exercises.

It was already evening, and the sky was filled with red clouds.

Emperor Richard and his entourage immediately moved into the local temporary residence and gave a banquet in the evening to reward the fleet officers who performed well in the actual combat training today to express their closeness.

During this inspection of the Oak Bay Naval Port, there was another major topic; that is, the discussion of the "Tornado" class ironclad cruiser and its subsequent development model plans.

The "Tornado" class armored cruiser was originally Plan B, an alternative to the "7,800-ton Zhenwei Armored Cruiser Plan" that was rejected by His Majesty. Its range and firepower were greatly reduced, and it was not the target ship the Royal Navy expected.

It took four and a half years from the approval to the construction of the "Tornado" class ironclad cruiser plan until the first ship was completed and put into service. The second ship of this class, "Bad Wind", has been launched and outfitted and will be delivered to the Royal Navy before the end of the year.

.

The No. 3 ship "Bitter Wind" and the No. 4 ship "Hast Wind" are both under construction to varying degrees, and are expected to be completed in the second half of next year.

A total of 6 ships of this class will be built, and 4 ships are planned to be deployed in the Atlantic Fleet, stationed in New York Port, Hampton Port, and New Orleans Port, to maintain the Tang Empire's maritime military presence in the Atlantic Ocean.

The two ships are deployed in the Pacific Fleet and will be used as the main force of the Pacific Fleet. Their home ports are San Francisco Bay Port (note; including Oak Bay Port), Los Angeles and Seattle.

Next step

On this basis, whether to develop subsequent slightly improved ship types or to revive the former "7800-ton Zhenwei Ironclad Cruiser Plan" has become the primary concern of the Royal Navy.

Due to the confidence in victory in the North American War, the Royal Navy generally preferred the latter.

After all, in the North American naval war, I had tasted the tyrannical position of dominating the oceans. My horizons had broadened and my heart had become wild. An ironclad cruiser of less than 5,000 tons could no longer satisfy the appetite of the Royal Navy generals.

If there are conditions

Who wouldn’t want to pilot a battleship with greater combat capabilities and greater power?

"I am aware of the military's opinions and tendencies, but developing the Royal Navy is not something that can happen overnight, let alone be eager for quick success, nor should we have extravagant hopes of dominating the world's oceans because of the victory in the North American War.

That is neither realistic nor possible, because the Tang Empire did not have the possibility to challenge British maritime hegemony in terms of economic resources or military.

Moreover, you must limit yourself.

You know, how can you allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the bed?

Any country that may endanger Britain's maritime hegemony will be listed as the most dangerous enemy by the British without hesitation and will be suppressed by all means, including the option of war.

I believe that such serious consequences are something no one wants to see and are harmful to the development of the empire."

Richard did not rudely veto the Royal Navy's new ship development plan, but instead taught his close admirals a lesson in international geopolitics from the perspective of international politics and major power competition.

The outbreak of World War I in the future was because the rapidly rising Germany could not see the situation clearly and brazenly launched an ambitious plan centered on the development of the "High Seas Fleet", which deeply hurt the British's sensitive bottom line and completely detonated it.

The arms race in Europe eventually led to the inevitable outbreak of war...

henceforth

The Germans became the eternal enemies of the British. From World War I to World War II, they were always the number one enemy in the eyes of the British, and all kinds of ridicule and sarcasm followed.

What an evil Prussian, with a funny and ridiculous garlic nose, who likes to hold pork sausages and drink beer while chewing and drinking, an emotionless killing machine...

This situation lasted until the British Empire slipped from its throne as the world's hegemon, and the relationship between the two parties gradually eased.

No matter how the army develops, there will be no problem. The British are optimistic about its success.

If the navy is to be developed, it will touch the most sensitive bottom line nerve of the British. The better the Tang Imperial Navy ships perform in the North American War, the more worried the British will be.

Doesn't this sound funny?

The fact is that it makes no sense. The Tang Empire must ensure restraint in naval development. Or to put it another way, it must wait for the backward British Royal Navy ships to improve before they can consider developing new and more powerful main ships.

The paranoid and stubbornly traditional conservatives of the British Royal Navy have been proven wrong after paying a heavy price for technological exploration, and were quickly replaced by the innovative young voices in the Royal Navy.

Before the Battle of North America

The artillery installation method generally accepted by navies around the world is the densely arranged gunport layout inherited from sailing battleships, using 2 to 3 layers of artillery decks to increase firepower.

The results of the North American naval battle have fully demonstrated the huge superiority of the rotating turret layout, which has been accepted by all the world's naval powers and has become one of the iconic technical features of the new iron-clad warships.

The Tang Empire was like this, the French Navy was like this, and the British Royal Navy was like this. Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary and other countries followed the trend and launched their own plans for the construction of rotating turret ironclads.

But there are countless plans for how to lay out the artillery.

The Tang-style layout is a classic plan, which is mainly reflected in the design of the main guns at the front and rear of the hull, and the design of secondary guns on both sides of the midship. This is a stable plan that has withstood the test of war.

but in uk

The central gun room design plan emerged and quickly stood out, becoming the technical standard for the British Royal Navy's new ironclad ship, and has been put into hot construction at the Royal Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.

Then why can't we adopt the artillery layout plan that the Tang Empire has proven to be very effective?

After all

It is still the arrogant maritime overlord in the heart of the British who is causing trouble. Although the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire has proven that this kind of artillery layout is reasonable, its striking power is extraordinary, and the artillery has fewer dead spots, which is conducive to the full use of the firepower of the entire ship.

But the British just didn't bother to adopt it and had to come up with a "central gun room" design on their own to show the advancement and superiority of British naval technology. This is really no one else!

The so-called central gun room refers to the several main naval guns equipped by the ship, all of which are set in the armored protective belt amidships.

The main naval guns of this era were all open-air turrets, and due to the backwardness of hydraulic technology, there was no way to rotate the dozens of tons of turrets as a whole, so only the main guns could be rotated in battle.

This kind of situation happens frequently in international affairs. If this is the case with the British, why not the French?

The glorious naval tradition and arrogant national pride made the world's naval powers such as Britain and France unable to accept the excellence of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire, so each of them came up with some new artillery layout plans.

For example, France has developed a plan called diagonal artillery layout.

As the name suggests

That is, the four main naval guns are grouped in twos, one group is located in the right front of the middle of the ship, and the other group is located in the left rear of the middle of the ship, forming a diagonal layout, so that during broadside bombardment, the full main ship can also be used.

Artillery firepower.

actually

This is also a central battery layout plan, but it is mixed with French wisdom and becomes something French.

The Prussian Navy also developed its own artillery layout plan. The Saxony-class ironclads adopted a front-exposed turret and central gun room design. The front was a rotatable exposed turret, and the rear was equipped with a gun room for four main guns.

This is equivalent to adopting half of the Tang style layout and half of the British style layout, and evolving it into its own German style layout. While satisfying the strong national self-esteem, it also feels much more comfortable.

Back to topic

Richard looked at the naval generals present with bright eyes and said warmly;

"...

Therefore, the next step in the development of naval ships is still to improve the "Tornado" class armored cruiser. The direction of improvement is to further enhance the ocean navigation performance, further enhance the performance of turbine equipment and artillery, and give full play to its power.

The artillery must be more accurate and the firepower stronger, the turbine and boiler equipment must work hard to improve reliability and performance, and the naval officers and soldiers must be rigorously trained and strive for excellence in their skills.

Equipped with the same type of iron-clad warships, the Royal Navy can react faster, strike more accurately, have a higher level of ship control, and have a stronger desire to fight than the enemy, and can defeat the opponent with better military quality.

"Training elite troops and winning wars" should become the current primary goal of the Royal Navy and should be maintained unremittingly."

Speaking of which

Richard habitually used the superior's manipulation methods, slapped him in the face and then gave him a sweet date. With a smile on his face, he said encouragingly, "I have approved the new development plan proposed by the Royal Navy. It is on the "Torrent" class.

On the basis of this, we will continue to build 6 new ships, which will be gradually completed in three years.

Thus

It is expected that by the end of 1866, the Royal Navy will have 12 powerful armored cruisers as its main force, ranking first in the entire America in terms of strength, and will be able to meet the needs of the Tang Empire for future maritime expansion."

"I will obey the holy will and must adhere to the military founding purpose of "training elite troops to win battles" and effectively urge all naval soldiers to unite as one, brave hardships and dangers, and complete the sacred mission entrusted by His Majesty." Marshal Pan Hengchen answered unambiguously,

It's really impressive.

"Great kindness." Richard nodded approvingly and said to everyone; "The Army General Staff Headquarters had just rested for a short time and began to tinker with the expedition to South America. The Navy has no shirk in this matter, and I allow it."

The Navy took over an integrated field division from the Ministry of War and reorganized it into a Marine Division to participate in the expedition to South America. Specific matters can be discussed privately by the army and navy staff headquarters, and a perfect plan can be discussed and submitted to the emperor."

"I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

This big pie that was suddenly thrown out immediately knocked all the naval admirals into a daze, and they couldn't contain their excitement. Everyone knows that opening up territory is the easiest way to build meritorious deeds. Take a bite and it will be delicious.

Nourishing oil.

The Royal Navy was actually able to participate in the Argentine expedition. This was tantamount to taking food from the always stingy Army General Staff Headquarters!

Without His Majesty's support, it would be unthinkable.

(End of chapter)